Strawberry Summer Cake

This is a delicious cake, perfect for the summer months when all we want to do is eat strawberries. It is light and goes well after a summer dinner. The addition of barley flour makes it even lighter and smoother. Don't worry if you don't have any though; it works just fine without.

If you have a regular pie pan, this will work fine. If you have a larger one or a deep dish one, either double or 1.5 times the recipe. Extra springiness! Enjoy!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Strawberry Summer Cake

Yield: 1 cake
Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1.5 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour (can swap half with barley flour)
• 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pound strawberries, halved

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a pie pan.
2. Whisk flour or flours, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.
3. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk, and vanilla until just combined.
4. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.
5. Pour into prepared pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over the strawberries.
6. Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 to 60 minutes.
7. Let cool in pan on a rack.

Strawberry Fudge

First off, Merry Christmas, all.

I searched high and low for a Strawberry Fudge recipe yesterday. I asked on Twitter and Facebook and got only a few responses which wouldn't work. Finally, I found a pineapple fudge recipe which seemed to work for some people. So I substituted one cup of crushed strawberries for one cup of crushed pineapple. Yeah, I know - maybe it wouldn't set properly (the hardest part of experimenting with fudge), but I had to try because darn it, I wanted some strawberry fudge! Anyway, I put it in a pan to set, let it rest overnight, flipped it out of the pan onto parchment paper in whatever shapes and pieces broke apart, and voila! it's set.

Next time I think I'll toy with the liquid ratio to either make it creamier or set more easily. Anywho.

This is seriously strawberry-y. Delicious like the best strawberry-flavored jelly, jam, preserves, marmalade, etc that you've ever had. Just don't expect it to be as creamy as regular fudge. It's more like an English-style fudge - crumbly, sugary, mmm. Enjoy!

Disney's Berry Crisp with Strawberry Sorbet

Berry Crisp with Strawberry Sorbet

Food and Wine Festival

Serves 8

Ingredients

Sorbet

3 c. fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
½ c. honey
1 c. sugar
3 T. lemon juice

Filling

1 lb. fresh raspberries
1 lb. fresh blueberries
1 lb. fresh blackberries
1 lb. ripe strawberries
4 oz. granulated sugar
1 oz. flour
1 ½ oz. Grand Marnier
Zest of 1 orange

Crisp Topping

17 oz. sugar, divided
17 oz. brown sugar, divided
7 oz. oats
14 oz. pecans
14 oz. walnuts
8 oz. melted butter
6 oz. coconut flakes
16 oz. flour
6 oz. soft butter

Directions

Sorbet

1. Place the strawberries in a food processor and puree until smooth.
2. Strain the strawberries through a fine chinois.
3. Whisk in the honey, sugar, and lemon juice.
4. Mix well and pour into an ice cream maker.
5. Allow to freeze overnight.

Filling

1. Hull and quarter the strawberries.
2. Toss strawberries and all of the remaining fruit with the sugar, flour, and Grand Marnier.
3. Place the filling into ramekins and top with Crisp.

Crisp

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix 11 ounces of sugar, 11 ounces of brown sugar, oats, pecans, walnuts, coconut flakes, and melted butter.
3. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Then in a food processor grind the mixed ingredients together in small batches.
4. Back in the large bowl, mix the blended ingredients with the remaining sugar, flour, brown sugar and soft butter. Mix well then top the fruit filled ramekins.
5. Bake at 375 for 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Top with sorbet and serve.

Disney's Smoothies

Served at a popular smoothie shop in Downtown Disney

Orange n' Spice Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup orange juice
1 cup cranberry juice
1 cup peaches
1 cup strawberries
1 cup orange sherbet
1 cup ice
Dash of holiday spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.)

Directions

Blend well, then serve immediately.


Cranberry Craze Smoothie

Ingredients

3/4 cup cranberry juice
2 tablespoon plain yogurt
1/2 cup raspberry sherbet
1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
ice cubes

Directions

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth and creamy.


Egg Nog Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup lowfat egg nog
1 cup nonfat frozen yogurt
1 dash nutmeg
1 cup crushed ice

Directions

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend on low setting.


Mighty Cherry Charger Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup cherry juice
1 cup soy milk
1 cup cherries
1 cup strawberries
1 cup frozen yogurt
1 cup ice

Directions

Blend well, then serve immediately.

Fruit Parfait Surprise

Valentine's Day is great. It means something different to everyone - whether you love it or hate it or are generally apathetic. But it's definitely a dessert kind of holiday. (Aren't most?)

The best kinds of desserts are the light ones you feel you can indulge on forever. Like fruit parfaits! By the way, the surprise is at the bottom of the glass, of course. Enjoy!

Strawberry Sorbet

Did you know strawberries are the only fruit with their seeds on the outside? Pretty cool, huh? Food (heh heh) for thought. And that's your Fourth of July humor of the day!

Nothing beats a cold treat on a hot summer day. Nothing, I say, except more cold treats! It's hard NOT to overindulge in this beauty of a dessert. It's so perfect in the middle of the day...and on a humid night...and maybe for breakfast...

I think the rum really helped to keep it from getting too icy. I don't have a fancy schmancy ice cream maker, so I go with the tried and true freeze and churn then freeze and churn method. Works like a charm. Next up: frozen tart yogurt. Enjoy!

Chilled Strawberries in Cottage Cheese

A perfect summertime treat. Perfect for the morning. Perfect for an afternoon snack to cool off. Perfect for a hot, humid evening out on the porch.

I prefer nonfat cottage cheese, and alternatively, yogurt can be used. Hell, chilled anything and cottage cheese and/or yogurt sounds outstanding when it's hot. So pick and choose. Toss in some cinnamon, lemon juice, or grand marnier, and enjoy!

Incidentally, we enjoyed these as a dessert on a muggier-than-usual kind of day. They were so good it made the mug go away! Well, almost. What do you do to cool yourself off on those kinds of nights?